Idaho

Who: Temple at Idaho When: Saturday, 5 p.m. Where: Kibbie Dome, Moscow TV: Altitude (Direct 681) Radio: The Fanatic (97.5-FM) Records: Temple 0-3, Idaho 0-4 History: First meeting. About Temple: Owls had a week off, after losing at home to FCS Fordham by one on a last-second pass . . . They've lost eight of nine going back to last season . . . First-year coach Matt Rhule has made some changes, with some younger guys moving up on the depth chart . . . Junior Connor Reilly, a first-year starter, has had his moments.

BOISE, Idaho - Idaho has become the first state to have its so-called fetal-pain law banning abortions after 20 weeks struck down by the federal courts. The decision from U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill was handed down Wednesday as part of a ruling that also overturns other abortion restrictions in Idaho. Also on Wednesday, Arkansas adopted a law banning abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy, around the time that a fetal heartbeat can be detected by abdominal ultrasound. The Idaho ruling is binding not only in that state but could have a persuasive effect in lawsuits challenging similar bans in other states - such as Arizona, where a suit is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

BOISE, Idaho - Firefighters gained ground on a number of wildfires across the West but struggled in southern Idaho, where winds fanned a fast-moving blaze across 235 square miles of sagebrush and dry grass, threatening a handful of homes, authorities said Monday. More firefighters were headed to the Idaho wildfire, which was sparked by a Saturday lightning storm. The fire was threatening six homes in the Castleford area, west of Twin Falls, said Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Kyli Gough.

A fugitive sought in Garden City, Idaho, on charges of arson for hire was arrested as a result of a motor vehicle accident in Lester on June 10, police said. Police said the accident took place at 10:53 p.m. at the Rosenbluth Valet Parking and Car Wash, 621 N. Governor Printz Blvd. The driver attempted to leave the scene but was reportedly restrained by Rosenbluth employees. When police arrived, the driver identified himself as Ernest Borg but refused to turn over his license, registration card or proof of insurance, authorities said.

When my friend Ridley Pearson invited me back to Idaho, I said to myself: He is NOT getting me up another tree. I was still combing sap out of my hair from a trip to Idaho last fall, when Ridley talked me into - this is an Idaho sport - climbing way up into a blatantly hostile tree and then getting back to Earth by "rappelling," which means "sliding down at the Speed of Fear on a rope approximately the same width as a strand of No. 8 spaghetti....

Montgomery County authorities are investigating the possibility that one of two neo-Nazi skinheads wanted in last week's killing of an 18-year-old Norristown man, also believed to have been a skinhead, has fled to Idaho. First Assistant District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said yesterday, "We have federal authorities in Idaho working on the case now. " Paul Minton, 23, of Philadelphia, may have fled west to be with other white supremacists, Castor said. Keith James Pearce Jr., 21, of Norristown, also remains at large.

HAILEY, Idaho - The yellow ribbons, some tattered, some faded, can be seen long before State Highway 75 spills into this town - home to America's only prisoner of war in its conflict with Afghanistan. They hang from roadside utility poles and in front of homes near the one where Bowe Bergdahl grew up. The ribbons may be the most visible sign that the people of Hailey haven't forgotten the Army sergeant who, four years ago June 30, disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan and was taken captive by the Taliban.

As outlined in court documents, Larry L. Eastland had a job that is not easily explained on a resume. Among the hats he contends that he wore: ghostwriter, security chief, and tracker of pedigrees of his boss' pets. Salary: $25,000 a month. Employer: John E. du Pont. His position ended in June 1995, Eastland claims in a suit in federal court, when he was told that his services were no longer needed. Now Eastland, who once ran for governor of Idaho, wants what he says was promised to him: nearly $1 million, most of it part of a severance agreement that was never put on paper.

The state of Idaho has offered to settle out of court a $1.3 million lawsuit it filed against a retired Scranton-area couple who inadvertently started a forest fire near Boise last year, a state official said yesterday. The state, which alleged that Frederick and Jeanne Howard started the blaze when a car they were towing behind their motor home caught fire, decided to settle for $355,000, the maximum money believed to be provided in the Howards' insurance policies. But Idaho Deputy Attorney General Terry Anderson said the decision, reached Thursday by the state Land Board, also called for the Howards' insurance companies to reveal the full amounts of the insurance and for the Howards to sign an affidavit stating that their other assets did not exceed $500,000.

To look at Sheriff Tim Nettleton - limping along in grimy Reeboks, worn Wranglers riding dangerously low on his hips, a little five-shot revolver on his belt and a star on the buckle the only indication of his law-enforcement capacity - is to think: Here's a guy who doesn't go by the rules. That thought would be misguided. Nettleton, 57, Idaho's longest-serving sheriff, is a big believer in rules - his. He rewrote the book. Working with inmates is no different than working with spoiled mustangs.

Coach: Matt Rhule (2-10 in his first season) Last year: 2-10 (1-7 American) On the web: www.Owlsport.com . Ticket info: 215-204-Tixx. Worth watching: Quarterback P.J. Walker would sure seem like the right place to start. The offense got better when he became the starter midway through last season. But he still made his share of mistakes, as you'd expect. Now he has to take the next progression, since he needs to be the leading part of whatever lies ahead. Sophomore Khalif Herbin, who sat out last season, could be the type of gamebreaker that's desperately needed, both catching passes and returning kicks.

TEMPLE DIDN'T expect to be 0-4. Not when you schedule FCS Fordham and Idaho. Yet that's where the Owls find themselves. Louisville was supposed to be 4-0. More than a few folks think the Cardinals can get to 12-0. They have some loseable games. This doesn't shape up as one of them. Just in case, they'll tee it up tomorrow at noon in South Philly. Upsets happen. This would go down as one of the biggest. But the Owls won at Virginia Tech in 1998 as just as heavy underdogs. It's one of the two times they've beaten a ranked opponent, in 86 tries.

MOSCOW, Idaho - While nothing was more glaring than the number of overthrown passes to wide-open receivers in Temple's disappointing, 26-24 loss to formerly winless Idaho on Saturday, quarterback Connor Reilly did connect with diminutive receiver Ryan Alderman for a nice score that at least momentarily kept the Owls' hopes for a victory alive. As the Owls (0-4) tried to erase a two-touchdown lead by Idaho (1-4) in the fourth quarter, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound Alderman split Idaho defenders down the middle of the field, hauled in a throw and turned it into a 51-yard touchdown.

MOSCOW, Idaho - The Temple Owls had hoped that an extra week of practice resulting from their weekend off would help them make the plays necessary to end their quest for their first win. However, the most crucial plays were made by the Idaho Vandals, specifically from their freshman quarterback, Chad Chalich. Chalich, generously listed at 6 feet, 205 pounds, put on a show, and too often the Owls seemed to be watching as they fell behind early and then fought back before falling, 26-24, Saturday in front of 15,323 at the Kibbie Dome.

Who: Temple at Idaho When: Saturday, 5 p.m. Where: Kibbie Dome, Moscow TV: Altitude (Direct 681) Radio: The Fanatic (97.5-FM) Records: Temple 0-3, Idaho 0-4 History: First meeting. About Temple: Owls had a week off, after losing at home to FCS Fordham by one on a last-second pass . . . They've lost eight of nine going back to last season . . . First-year coach Matt Rhule has made some changes, with some younger guys moving up on the depth chart . . . Junior Connor Reilly, a first-year starter, has had his moments.

MORE THAN anything right now, Temple could use a win. So could Idaho. Between them they're 0-7. The Owls lost five of their last six a year ago, for a different coach. The win came against an Army team that finished 2-10. Idaho went 1-11, also under the watch of another guy. Its win was against 1-11 New Mexico State. So you get the idea. The Owls will fly across country for the first time since their 2005 opener at Arizona State. That was Bobby Wallace's last season, and they were competing as an independent.

TEMPLE WAS a last-second 29-yard touchdown pass away from beating FCS Fordham, after coming within a couple of plays of beating Houston, which like Fordham is unbeaten. Since close doesn't count, it means the Owls (0-3) and first-year coach Matt Rhule are still winless. So are 13 other FBS teams, including Idaho (0-4), which is in its first season as an independent after spending 8 years in the now-defunct WAC. On Saturday in the other Moscow, one of them will finally get to celebrate.

HAILEY, Idaho - The yellow ribbons, some tattered, some faded, can be seen long before State Highway 75 spills into this town - home to America's only prisoner of war in its conflict with Afghanistan. They hang from roadside utility poles and in front of homes near the one where Bowe Bergdahl grew up. The ribbons may be the most visible sign that the people of Hailey haven't forgotten the Army sergeant who, four years ago June 30, disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan and was taken captive by the Taliban.

BOISE, Idaho - A wholesale grocer says America's potato farmers have run an illegal price-fixing cartel for a decade, driving up prices while spying on farmers with satellites and aircraft flyovers to enforce strict limits on how many tubers they can grow. Kansas-based Associated Wholesale Grocers' lawsuit against United Potato Growers of America (UPGA) and two dozen other defendants was shifted this week to U.S. District Court in Idaho, America's top potato state, producing 30 percent of the nation's supply.